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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26992120">cup of stars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutiesofcare/pseuds/dutiesofcare'>dutiesofcare</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Family, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian, Loneliness, Loneliness Study, Slow Burn, Tea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:46:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>751</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26992120</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutiesofcare/pseuds/dutiesofcare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dani comes over for tea at Jamie's.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dani Clayton/Jamie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>cup of stars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>just because I finished Bly Manor yesterday and bawled my eyes out for three hours straight.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Do you want to come over for tea?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The kettle was loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But never as loud as the silence growing between the two women, sitting quietly by the wooden table, waiting for something to happen. For </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>to happen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A demon appearance. A ghost wandering trying to find its way home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The universe carried on moving and seemed to forget them behind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence between two people meant either awkwardness or a sense of intimacy, of comfort, that two souls would kill to achieve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Were they </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Were they </span>
  <em>
    <span>that?  </span>
  </em>
  <span>Would they ever know?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They were sharing a drink they call loneliness, but it was better than drinking alone.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The place of cups above the table was loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But never as loud as the glances and looks the brunette and the blond woman shared, serving themselves tea and allowing the heat of the mugs to warm their hands. Hoping that the tea and crumpets would fulfill them with some vain existence and allow them to carry on alongside the universe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s your family?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Left behind.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A nod and lips displayed in a flat line. Opposite sides of the table and they were studying every little trait the other’s face was composed of. Trying to extract the poetry that each of their souls was made of.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Who had written their poetry? Could the lyrics of their meaningless existence mix into one?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>People assume that just because you’re not alone, you can’t be lonely. Like most assumptions, it’s erroneous.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The clock on the wall was loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But never as loud as the tick-tock of the memories echoing in their minds of who they once were and how they came to be what they now were. Of everything they had ever lost and how those losses shaped the flaws and insecurities of whom they became.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>family?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gone from this world and galaxy. Gone from their lives. Gone from my life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If her words had any purpose, they intensified the tension in the air. They allured their glares down to their own hands so they wouldn’t see the specs of sorrow and loneliness escaping the windows of their souls.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A loneliness that accompanied them ever since they came into existence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was anybody ever not truly alone? Would they ever learn how to defeat their loneliness?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We are all born alone and we all die alone. Loneliness is part of the journey of life.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their anxious breaths were loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But never as loud as the yearning for companionship, the yearning not to be alone for just one second in the infinitive timeline of the universe. The yearning to call somebody </span>
  <em>
    <span>mine </span>
  </em>
  <span>and calling themselves </span>
  <em>
    <span>yours. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The yearning to love and to be loved, to feel butterflies in their stomachs simply by knowing that they </span>
  <em>
    <span>belonged.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m trying to find a new family.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can be your new family.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sparkles in the eyes and a shy smile in the corner of the lips. Their gazes hesitant to find their ways to the other’s, but when they did, they found the other already glaring at them. Making silent promises that she wouldn’t leave her alone, she wouldn’t leave her behind. Silent promises that the old jeep parked somewhere outside wouldn’t ever leave without the both of them. Together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Could that mean the moment their souls would finally be complete?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The eternal quest of the individual being is to shatter their loneliness.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their heartbeats were loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But never as loud as their desire for the stars; not the stars decorating the skies and the universe, but the constellations that composed their essence. The cosmic that had reigned their lives ever since the start and built their path to one another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Be </span>
  </em>
  <span>my new </span>
  <em>
    <span>family</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes. Yes, I would.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her hand was placed above the other’s, and cheeks blushed. Chills were sent down their spines, a tingle of anticipation ran through their bodies. Their pulses beating hardly against their skin, trying to break free, trying to reach for </span>
  <em>
    <span>the other. </span>
  </em>
  <span>A moment of unknown courage, of unfamiliar bravery, and fingers were interlaced.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What were they afraid of?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their souls were quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But never as quiet as the feeling of happiness of finally fitting in. The ease of finding a home with somebody else, of building a home with someone you truly belonged to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You promise?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I promise.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>if you read it so far and you enjoyed it then you're obligated to leave me a comment 😡🔪</p></blockquote></div></div>
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